Need a little inspiration? Sign up here to receive the fitness information you need when it comes to family fun, nutrition and sports and fitness!

Family Sports & Fitness

Declare Your Independence! Stay Fit!

Demands on our life can leave us feeling that there is no time to exercise. Use these techniques to declare your independence and reclaim your time.

There are plenty of practical ways to fit exercise into your busy schedule. Try to institute just one or two of these hints and you’ll be on your way to staying healthy and feeling even better about your life.

Write exercise on your schedule as an appointment• Treat yourself as a priority – because you are!• Schedule your exercise class, walk or DVD workout • Make exercising as important as any other appointment you make

Cut back on internet and video time • Eliminate 15 minutes a day of surfing the web or playing video games, and give those 15 minutes to yourself for your fitness mission

Make mornings your time• A morning workout helps regulate your appetite, boosts energy and ensures that your workout is done before the rest of your hectic life interrupts your good intention• Get up 30 minutes earlier, even if it means going to bed 30 minutes earlier

Work out while doing your household chores• Give yourself a 15-minute time limit to complete cleaning your bathroom or bedroom and work up a sweat bending, stretching, and lifting• Add lunges or jog in place while washing dishes or doing the laundry

Set a 20-minute timer to remind yourself to move• When watching TV or working on the computer, get up every 20 minutes • Stretch, jog in place, do jumping jacks—just move somehow• Make use of commercial time to get your heart pumping instead of getting a snack • Perform 3 sessions of 3-minute workouts each hour – and you’ll quickly reach your 30 minute exercise minimum per day

Activate your social life• Encourage fun and movement when spending time with your family and friends• Substitute a walk for a movie, a game of flag football for watching a game on TV, or a bike ride instead of dessert• Turn dinner dates into workout dates and help everyone add to their exercise quota

Add steps to your routineSay yes to yourself and no to others when possible• Look at your required obligations and those you only feel you “should” do • Say “no” when a task interferes with your priority of staying fit